John Bercow
Main Page: John Bercow (Speaker - Buckingham)Department Debates - View all John Bercow's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(10 years ago)
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Norman Lamb
The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point. The difference in the providers that pay people properly is clear. Incidentally, domiciliary care is another area where there are concerns. My right hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Burstow) visited Wiltshire recently, which has moved away from the old style of paying people a pittance and now gives care workers a salary. When that happens, the whole culture starts to change completely.
We must ensure that there is compliance with the minimum wage, as well as advocating wages that are better than the minimum. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has done a lot of work in the sector to address the abuse of the minimum wage regulations, which is far too widespread. It is completely intolerable for any care provider not to meet its statutory obligations. As the shadow Minister said, we have to ensure that when they commission care, councils cannot be complicit in an arrangement that they know will end up with people not receiving proper pay.
Mr Speaker
Nobody could accuse the fastidious Minister of excluding from the answers any consideration that he thinks might in any way be material. If he can combine that with reasonable economy, the House will be even more grateful to him than it is.
Mr Mark Harper (Forest of Dean) (Con)
On the Minister’s last point, I am pleased that Gloucestershire county council, notwithstanding the financial pressures on it, has prioritised spending on adult social care for elderly people and those with learning disabilities. From his conversations with the CQC, is he confident that its culture is not just that of a tick-box regulator, but that of an organisation that sees itself as the champion of those who are receiving care and their families, such that if it sees the sort of abuse that was highlighted on television last night, it will act to ensure that it comes to an end and that the perpetrators are dealt with swiftly?